April 16 - Apex - Back Again

[What A Market]

24 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Looks like you missed the long lines to board.  We got to the Suite entrance at 11:15 and a line was forming.  Apparently the ship wasn’t ready for boarding and the SuiteLounge in the terminal was full.  We waited in a line which quickly fell into everyone inching forward.  
That lasted about 35 minutes when they let groups of 10 on the elevator to join a line at luggage screening.   Once we entered the Suite Lounge a check in person became available and grabbed us.  That upset a fellow about 4 groups behind us.  Who made it known that they were in a______ and he should be checked in before all these others and he wanted be checked in NOW.  
 
All in all it was a hour between arrival and boarding. 

Definitely various lines to snake thru each of the additional steps as you note. Got lucky when we got to the Retreat Lounge when our Personal Retreat Host (fka a Butler), Diana, spotted us and got us checked in. 
 

Sorry I missed the “entitled” person. That’s part of what I enjoy about cruising! 😜

 

Back to Diana:  She let us know she is the only female Personal Host on board.  DW teaches and writes specifically on Women’s History. So that gave her something to geek over. 🤣

Edited April 16, 2022 by What A Market

[What A Market]

Sail away time at the Sunset Bar. 
Need sunset now!  Hot as heck out here!!!  Oh well, I’ll just stay hydrated. Bartender!  🤣

[What A Market]

More sail away drinking at the “cooler” end of the ship — Retreat pool bar. Aft most part of ship. Cooler in terms of temperature only. 😜

Edited April 16, 2022 by What A Market

[neverlaysup]

On 4/15/2022 at 9:27 AM, What A Market said:

Ok, time for a really live post.  Onboard my direct flight from Phoenix to Miami with American Airlines. Plane and crew showed up, so we are on time. (Not always the case lately.)  Traveling first class with points so enjoying that, but we are on a A321neo, so first class seats are basically an extra roomy regular seat.  Plane is brand new though — Feb 2022 revision.

 

I get my inspiration to post live from the frequent other posters.  Recently and currently we have/had live posting on the Celebrity board from BennyBrun, JamieLogical, Jim_Iain, and certainly many others. I won’t be posting as many photos as Benny (amazing work), drinking as much as Jamie (astounding), or providing as much detail as Jim (impressive).  

 

Easing into vacation mode.  Work has been, shall we say, a b#@ch of late.  Too early for me to start with an adult beverage. So sticking to coffee to start. American Air has started up pre-flight drinks again, so nice for that. Long flight. Probably a glass of wine later!

The NEO's are a bit tight up front. The 737 is a bit more comfortable. With all the Covid issues lately, LAX-MIA has been on 777 or 787, first class in the pods has been a treat! Have a great cruise.

 

[What A Market]

Evening munchies in the Retreat Lounge. Very quiet on evening number one. Ship time 6:47pm. Maybe everyone rushed to dinner early???

[What A Market]

Not too shabby — Riedel stemware 

[micmacmissy]

Don’t miss the little cups of seasoned nuts…they were sooo good!

[mac_tlc]

23 minutes ago, micmacmissy said:

Don’t miss the little cups of seasoned nuts…they were sooo good!

We enjoyed those nightly!!!

 

mac_tlc

[What A Market]

First of the day!  If you’ve read my live posts before, you know this is a ritual for me. I’ll work thru several cappuccinos and espressos for the start of the day while relaxing in Cafe al Bacio. Eventually DW will come find me and drag me to breakfast. 
 

Today is Bimini. Looks mostly sunny and calm out. We have no specific plans for the day, other than hit some beaches. 
 

I’ll post more in a bit on last night’s activities, including a somewhat disappointing meal at Luminae. 
 

Ciao for now. 
 

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, What A Market said:

First of the day!  If you’ve read my live posts before, you know this is a ritual for me. I’ll work thru several cappuccinos and espressos for the start of the day while relaxing in Cafe al Bacio. Eventually DW will come find me and drag me to breakfast. 
 

Today is Bimini. Looks mostly sunny and calm out. We have no specific plans for the day, other than hit some beaches. 
 

I’ll post more in a bit on last night’s activities, including a somewhat disappointing meal at Luminae. 
 

Ciao for now. 
 

God, I love Cafe alBacio!

 

I think my wife and I spend more time there than anywhere else.

 

mac_tlc

[mari10]

If you get a get a chance can you confirm there are still oysters available @ Raw. We are in the Edge in June and I noticed the menu doesn’t include oysters . We always have had oysters on Edge and Apex. I hope this is not another cut back. We were on b2b fabulous Apex cruise Jan/Feb, cruised 28 March on Silhouette and it was night and day difference, we were severely disappointed and decided that was the end of our S class sailings. Hope the E Class continues with what we love about Celebrity.

[What A Market]

57 minutes ago, mari10 said:

If you get a get a chance can you confirm there are still oysters available @ Raw. We are in the Edge in June and I noticed the menu doesn’t include oysters . We always have had oysters on Edge and Apex. I hope this is not another cut back. We were on b2b fabulous Apex cruise Jan/Feb, cruised 28 March on Silhouette and it was night and day difference, we were severely disappointed and decided that was the end of our S class sailings. Hope the E Class continues with what we love about Celebrity.

Hi mari10

I did see oysters on display last night while walking past Raw.

I tried the oysters on night 2 when I was last on Apex in December. They were very good.

 

I’ll probably give them a try again this evening. Not sure I want to sample after two days. 🤢 😂 

 

[What A Market]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

God, I love Cafe alBacio!

 

I think my wife and I spend more time there than anywhere else.

 

mac_tlc

I’m with you mac_tic!

For sheer number of hours spent in any one single place, Cafe al Bacio wins hands down.

 

[81Zoomie]

On 4/16/2022 at 8:25 AM, What A Market said:

Boarding day!  YAY

 

Enjoying a quiet morning cup of coffee at the hotel while DW sleeps in. The three hour time change from Arizona is a bit harder on her to adjust to.  (I basically don’t sleep, so no problem for me. LOL)

 

Looks like the weather here in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area will be nicer today compared to yesterday.  Stiff breeze, but I guess that’s nothing surprising here.

 

No specific plan for getting to the ship time-wise.  One of the benefits of suites (or maybe upper suites) — we can show up whenever we want, although the Celebrity App gave me a noon boarding time. In my communications with the shoreside Concierge, I said we would board at 11:00. 

 

Here’s my scenery for this morning. Beautiful.

Lovely view! Where did you stay in FLL?

[LXA350]

Looks amazing, enjoy your cruise. Is Raw on 5 included in the unlimited speciality dining package?

[mari10]

2 hours ago, What A Market said:

Hi mari10

I did see oysters on display last night while walking past Raw.

I tried the oysters on night 2 when I was last on Apex in December. They were very good.

 

I’ll probably give them a try again this evening. Not sure I want to sample after two days. 🤢 😂 

 

Thank you ! 
Hope you enjoy the oysters ! My DH had them on 4 occasions in January. They actually keep very well .

[What A Market]

3 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

Lovely view! Where did you stay in FLL?

Hi Zoomie

We stayed at the Ritz Bal Harbor. 
Amazing staff at this property. 
Balcony view. 

[What A Market]

Perfect day in Bimini. We walked off ship and hiked over to one of the beach clubs (360).  The white sandy area way off to the left in the photo is where you find a couple of clubs. Easy enough hike, but there is a free tram service running out to the casino and the beach clubs if not your thing. The trams  come all the way up to the ship. We took a tram back to ship after a couple of hours at the beach. 

[What A Market]

Argh!!!!

Phoenix Suns playoff basketball not playing anywhere on the ship. 😒 

[What A Market]

Day 2 at Cafe al Bacio. 

They already remember my starting order. Service like this always amazes me when I see it on ships, considering the number of passengers and the weekly turnover in passengers. 

[What A Market]

19 hours ago, mari10 said:

Thank you ! 
Hope you enjoy the oysters ! My DH had them on 4 occasions in January. They actually keep very well .

Just for you mari10!

[SparklyPinkCruiser]

10 hours ago, What A Market said:

Argh!!!!

Phoenix Suns playoff basketball not playing anywhere on the ship. 😒 

I guess that means the chances of seeing the Toronto Raptors or Blue Jays is just about nil 😆

[What A Market]

Here we are, Day 2 on the good ship Apex. Sea day today as we as we make the run from Bimini to Belize City. Partly to maybe mostly cloudy. Very calm seas. Awesome for a sea day.

 

No plans today, which is the way I like it.  Dinner tonight in Eden. We didn’t get to Eden on our last Apex cruise in December. Really looking forward to it. Last night was dinner in Blu. We didn’t get to Blu, as well, on last trip. Very nice. Had the corn soup (veloute), the cannellini bean & grilled asparagus salad, and the short ribs. 

 

After dinner we went walked off the meal for a while, and then went to Craft Social in hopes of watching some NBA playoff basketball. As I noted earlier — Fail. Only baseball and rugby. I know I saw yesterday’s games being shown on TVs at some of the bars, so mildly disappointing.  More wandering around ship with a stop by Cafe al Bacio for late night cookies. (One of my favorite cruise indulgences.)

 

Finally, we head off to Eden for a drink and to watch a late night show. We didn’t do the main production show in the Theatre — Crystalize (a sad/ironic term for the way a recently demised cruise line used to talk about the “indoctrination” of its passengers), as we saw the show in December. But don’t miss this show if you haven’t seen. It is the best show I’ve seen at sea.

 

The show in Eden was done cabaret style with a mix of different styles of singing, dancing, and acrobatic performances.  Nice. Talented individuals giving it their all!

 

Back to room.  Set clocks back one hour (yay) as we head southwest to Belize.

[mari10]

1 hour ago, What A Market said:

Just for you mari10!

Thank you! They look divine. My DH manages at least a dozen each visit and would be sorely disappointed if they were removed from the menu. Here’s hoping they’ll be on The Edge as well. 

We love Raw & I especially like their “gingertini” which isn’t a martini. 

[mac_tlc]

We ate at Eden on Apex in January and it’s was wonderful. Enjoy the dessert tray!

 

mac_tlc